WEEK 1: FLORA AND FAUNA WINNERS!
Thank you for all your great submissions in the Nature Photo Contest! Flora and Fauna Friday was judged by Sara Jarvie (@sjarvie5), a portrait and landscape photographer from Arizona. Sara has lived in many beautiful places including by the beaches of San Diego, the farmlands of Idaho, the mountains of Utah, the island of Taiwan, and the history and culture of DC. She is now in Arizona and has come to see the beauty of the desert and wrote an ABC book about desert plants.

“We live in such a diverse and beautiful world. It was so great to have the opportunity interact more with the Steemit community and to judge these photos of the beauty the people see in the plants and animals around them.” ~ Sara

FIRST PLACE: @snaptravel

“Here's my photo of a Cellar Spider. What I like about this photo is that you can see the spiders face. It looks like it has a cute little nose, but in fact that nose is an eye. There are three clusters of eyes, the two on either side contain three eyes each, and the false nose in the middle contains two more. Eight eyes in total, matching its eight legs. It certainly is a strange little beast.”

SECOND PLACE: @intrepidphotos

“This shot is of an orphaned North American Brown Bear or Grizzly Bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) who had just woken up from winter hibernation at the Grouse Mountain Refuge for Endangered Wildlife in North Vancouver. Sadly cubs are often left behind when their mothers are hit by trucks. Orphaned cubs that are human socialised though the rescue process are difficult to reintroduce to the wild, often spending their entire life in reserves such as this one if they are lucky enough not to be put down. Massive in stature, the largest have been to weigh up to 680 kg (1,500 lb), standing up to 3 metres (9.8 ft) tall on their hind legs , or 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) at the shoulder when on all four legs. British Columbia, Canada.
Image taken by and remains the Copyright of Robert Downie - http://www.robertdowniephotography.com”

THIRD PLACE: @itchyfeetdonica

“Unlike most travelers who reach Torres del Paine in Chile by land transportation, I arrived by boat through Rio Serrano. After a short hike upon landing, I captured this view.”

HONORABLE MENTIONS

@dmytrokorol

“Hide and seek with a red deer in Nuthe-Nieplitz Nature Park, Brandenburg, Germany. We have been observing each other when suddenly the ray of light fell between the trees creating a symbolic border between me and this beautiful creature.”

@fivealive55

“My entry is this wildflower I came across while exploring the coastline in southern Oregon. I believe it is an Iris but I am not sure as to the specific type of Iris. The stretch of coastline that I found this in is called the Samuel H. Boardman scenic corridor.”

@mariainesff

“A beautiful flower that I found on my daily walk, I can not talk much about it because I do not know what kind of flower it is.”

@caseygrimley

“My very first bear sighting in the wild! From my trip to Glacier National Park back in 2015. My wife named him Wallace the bear.”

@fonteynb

“Moving to Wasaga Beach has improved our outdoors life. We live just next to the Wasaga Beach provincial park. There is a lot of wildlife.This fall we were walking in the park and we saw this beautiful hairy woodpecker.”

@hedac

“Welcome to my forest, the deer told me.
He lives in a forest close to where we live and I know they can be dangerous but we are slowly becoming good friends.”

@scottshots

“A few years ago it started snowing later in spring after some of the local flowers had bloomed. I saw this scene in my yard, grabbed my camera gear, and drove off into town to where there were some big blooms happening. The snow in town was wet and ugly and I ended up with nothing. When I got back home, I realized I didn't have to leave as the perfect scene was right in my front yard!”

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THE WINNERS!

If you enjoyed this gallery, please upvote and share! Thank you!

To learn more about this contest, check the detailed and updated Introduction post.

To participate, check out the SIMPLE SUNDAY and submit a photo while the contest is open!

See also these stunning photo galleries featuring previous winners:
Mountains Monday Winners Week #1
Trees Tuesday Winners Week #1
Water Wednesday Winners Week #1
Time Lapse Thursday Winners Week #1

DAILY THEMES and judges for Week 1 (Feb. 26 - March 4)
Mountains Monday (@shadalene)
Trees Tuesday (@caseygrimley)
Water Wednesday (@photovisions)
Time-lapse Thursday (@derekkind)
Flora and Fauna Friday (@sjarvie5)
Simple Sunday (@yumyumseth)

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FLORA AND FAUNA MEMO Week #1	Account	Prizes and Payments
First Place	@snaptravel	20%
Second Place	@intrepidphotos	12%
Third Place	@itchyfeetdonica	7%
Honorable Mention	@dmytrokorol	3%
Honorable Mention	@fivealive55	3%
Honorable Mention	@mariainesff	3%
Honorable Mention	@caseygrimley	3%
Honorable Mention	@fonteynb	3%
Honorable Mention	@hedac	3%
Honorable Mention	@scottshots	3%
Judge	@sjarvie5	20%